Exclusivity breeds popularity. The more exclusive the night club, the more we wish we could get inside (and the longer the lines outside will grow). The popular kids in high school aren't necessarily the nicest or the smartest–it's the air of exclusivity that makes them popular (an air that disappears approximately two-and-a-half minutes after graduation, […]
Read More >Can you teach it back?
The best way to learn something is to get to a point where you could teach it to someone else. When the University of California first announced their new eligibility requirements, I was asked to explain them to a group of students and parents at a local high school. I'd already read all the material […]
Read More >Don’t be a title collector
In their efforts to impress colleges, a lot of students become title collectors. They're driven to accomplish things so they can list them on their resumes. And when they apply to college, they can't wait to rattle off their list of leadership positions held, awards won, and total number of community service hours completed. But […]
Read More >How to write a thank-you note
There are two ways to write a thank-you note. One is to get it over with, to say the basics, keep it short, and send a quick email (capitalization optional). Those notes sound like this. Dear Mr. Gerard: Thank you very much for writing my letters of recommendation for college. I know that you were […]
Read More >Who needs a champion?
In my life before Collegewise, I worked for a local office of The Princeton Review, best known as an SAT prep company. But they prepare students for other exams, too, and for a two year stretch that immediately preceded my time there, the Princeton Review office where I worked enjoyed record-breaking enrollments in their LSAT […]
Read More >How to handle college rejections
This is the month when the majority of college decisions arrive home. And while there will be a lot of happy squealing and celebrating by the mailbox, it can also be a disheartening time for students when a college for whom they were holding out hope doesn’t come through with an offer of admission. I […]
Read More >This is how it’s done
I admit it–I've got a collegiate crush on the College of Wooster. I've written about them before and this probably won't be the last time. But for now, I'll hold off on my praise for Wooster and instead praise a parent I've never actually met. This is a video, presumably shot by a father, of […]
Read More >Advice from students who have been through it
Parents often lament to us that their kids won't listen to them about college. I always remind those parents that in just a few years, your kids will realize just how right you were about almost everything. Until that time, kids might be more likely to listen to advice from seniors, as written about in […]
Read More >What happens next?
A Collegewise father once called me and told me, "Kevin, you won't believe this. Lauren (his daughter) just called me and said, 'Dad, I'm graduating from college in two months. So, what happens next?'" He had a reply that would have made my own father proud. "I told her, 'What happens next? I'll tell you. […]
Read More >Pronoun guidelines for parents
I received an email from a parent last week asking about how to find volunteer opportunities for her son. Here’s an excerpt: “I was thinking about volunteering him at a hospital or maybe at a local soup kitchen.” It’s coming from a good place. But wherever that kid ends up, he won’t actually be “volunteering”; he’ll just be […]
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